How to Freeze Fresh Cranberries (2024)

October 25, 2022 · Updated April 22, 2024

5 from 2 votes

Cleaning Fresh Cranberries

Even though cranberries are harvested in water (yep, the bogs are dry during growing and get filled with water for harvests!) it’s still important to properly clean your cranberries before freezing them to remove any remaining field debris and to rinse off any processing residue.

Pour the berries into a strainer and give them a generous rinse, tossing them gently to ensure every cranberry is properly washed. Allow the excess water to drain for a few minutes before continuing.

Sorting Cranberries

Even though modern farm equipment is excellent at separating the delicious, fresh cranberries from the less than stellar ones, they’re not 100% perfect and some duds will slip into the bags on occasion.

While rinsing, be sure to remove and discard any berries that have squishy, yellow-ish spots. Those are no good! A fresh, ripe cranberry will be bright red and firm. If it’s off color or soft, toss it.

Freezing Fresh Cranberries

Once the cranberries are cleaned and drained, spread them out onto a towel lined rimmed baking sheet. The towel will absorb any excess water and the rimmed baking sheet will ensure no cranberries roll off.

I prefer to use paper towels for freezing produce like rhubarb or fresh mulberries as they tend to bleed and can stain fabric. Of course, you can use a paper towel during this process, too, if you’d like.

If your cranberries are particularly wet, or if they haven’t had time to properly drain, you may want to do this process twice, discarding the soaked towel and replacing it with a dry layer, if necessary.

It’s important to use a baking sheet that is big enough so all the berries can lay in a single layer and aren’t touching too much. This will ensure even freezing and help prevent sticking.

Flash Freezing Fresh Produce

A process called flash freezing will also ensure the cranberries don’t freeze together in one large clump.

This is a method of freezing the whole fresh fruit or vegetable in a single layer on a baking tray (that is lined with paper towel or a towel to prevent it sticking to the tray) until the produce is completely frozen. This takes around 4 hours but can be done overnight.

If you don’t flash freeze fresh produce and instead just throw it all in a freezer bag from the get-go, it will freeze in a giant clump and make it very difficult to use moving forward.

Storing Frozen Cranberries

Once the flash freezing is complete and the cranberries are frozen solid, transfer the frozen pieces to a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Label with the contents of the bag, the amount or weight of the item, and the date it is being frozen.

A properly labeled bag ensures that no mystery items wind up at the back of the freezer and that you know exactly how much you’re using and when it was initially stored.

These frozen cranberries can be stored for up to one year and can be used as you would fresh cranberries in so many recipes! From cranberry sauce to muffins to simple syrup and beyond!

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